


Things Are Starting To Shift

by beeleafit



Category: Starbound (Video Game)
Genre: Floran - Freeform, Gen, Hylotl - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Novakid - Freeform, glitch - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beeleafit/pseuds/beeleafit
Summary: When people tell Lumen to think back on his happiest memory, nothing really came to mind that's genuine. All memories that seem happy that he looks back on were actually horrible. When he thinks of the second semester of his sophomore year at The Protectorate, there were plenty of bad things that happened to him, but none of them sour the time he spent there.Maybe that's what they meant.





	1. Painful Beginings

**Author's Note:**

> Writing a fic for your ocs is valid right.
> 
> Anyway, these two have an askblog! ( https://lumenscrew.tumblr.com ) go follow for more. These events are set before the time of the askblog. Uhh I have a general idea of where im going with this but, I don't really know what i'm doing,, enjoy...
> 
> EDIT AS OF 9/11/18: Okay so a lot of things have changed while I fleshed out this story. There are a lot of edits in this chapter so you might want to re read it if you want to know the context of next chapter. I made a lot of general text edits and a lot of dialogue was changed as well as most of the scenes.

Lumen absolutely dreaded the fact that he had to pick a locker room to use. At Least the Protectorate was good about this type of thing, so he knew he wouldn't get any trouble from the staff. However, the students differed. The fact that he did choose to not cut his wavy long hair had a part to play as well. There was a gender neutral locker room which some students used, but he had to get used to using the men’s, well, everything. He sucked in an unnecessary breath and pushed the door the the men's locker room open. He kept his head down and headed towards the bathroom stalls, neatly folded gym clothes resting between his bound chest and forearm.

A voice was heard almost immediately after the door to the locker room behind him closed. “Hey,” Lumen’s chest tightened uncontrollably and pace quickened. “What are your plans for tonight?” He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. False alarm. That student wasn’t talking to him.

Lumen walked into the bathrooms and opened the door to the stall. Quickly changing out of his day clothes and into his gym uniform. He sighed and looked down at his hand me down cowboy boots that he’d received from his older brother. He’d forgotten his gym shoes, which might be a problem for others, but not for him. However, sneakers would be better for not sliding on the hardwood flooring. He exited the stall and shoved his wadded clothes into a random locker. Number 42. He had to remember that.

  
-

Today’s gym activity was a earth originating sport called soccer. It sounded a lot like kick the can. He shrugged at the thought. It came time to pick teams. More and more people kept getting called into teams and less and less people remained left. He was one of them, as he suspected. He was last to be chosen and forced into a not so nice looking hylotl’s team. Her name was apparently Aki, and she seemed a bit too sassy and disrespectful. Especially when she was forced to pick him last. She sighed for dramatic effect and pointed towards Lumen.

“Fiiiiine, that yellow novakid is on my team.” Lumen would be rolling his eyes if he had a pair.

The rules were explained briefly and he readied himself for the ball. Lumen began to run for it once he heard the high pitched blow of the gym teacher’s whistle. Then prepared himself to kick it (he was told to use the inside of his foot to hit instead of the front like he was used to). He came up onto the ball the fastest and reeled his foot back in preparation.

Aki had different plans though. “Move out of the way!” The blue accented hylotl demanded, and he knew it, Lumen was on the ground clutching his brand with both his hands. The pain was sharp and stung, Aki must’ve scratched the front of it with her clawed hand when she pushed him to the side.

A voice slowly faded in from above him. “-ou okay?”

“Hnn- it hurts.”  
“Your brand? Can you see? Lumen took his hands away from his face for only a second, but a second too long. He didn’t even get a good look at his surroundings, but from what he could tell, everyone had circled around him, and his anxiety began to rise. “N- It stings.”

A few seconds passed before he felt arms gently hoist him up from the floor, bridal style. Lumen let out a squeak and momentarily brought his hands away from his brand to see the person who came to his aid. Apparently he was a green floran, with even deeper green foliage. Lumen thought he spotted a pale pink flower on his left side, but couldn't look for long. His face began to sting again. His breath caught in his throat and let out a groan of displeasure while he quickly slapped his hands back over his brand.

The arms carrying him hoised his small figure into the air for a split second, adjusting his grip. “We should start heading down to the nursse's office, but first I want to know. Who did this?” Ah, the hiss. So they were a floran. Lumen did think it was a bit odd that he referred to themselves as ‘I’ instead of ‘floran’, though, they were at the Protectorate, so they were probably fairly intelligent.

“Uh no-nobody, I tripped.” Lumen lied, not wanting to get into petty drama.

A seemingly long time passed before he could feel motion in the other.

“Are you ssure?”

“... No.” Lumen whined.

“Sso it was Aki, because nobody else could’ve left a sscratch in your brand like that but a hylotl or floran, and we’re the only ones in this gym class.”

Lumen sighed.

“Let’ss get you ssome help.”

The walk to the medical room was a lot shorter than Lumen had thought it would’ve been. Probably because the floran carrying him was very, very tall, and being four foot eleven, Lumen was very, very short in comparison to his classmates. They talked for a bit on the way there. Lumen had learned that the floran’s name was Neem and that he had gotten a full ride scholarship to the Protectorate, and also took note that Neem apparently grew up with a lot of siblings. He sure did talk a lot, but Lumen didn’t mind.

-

Neem walked up to the receptionist's window with Lumen in his arms. The receptionist looks a little startled by the large presence in her view, but quickly calms down and slaps a smile onto her face.

“Hi Neem! What can we do for you two today?” The lady said in a sweet tone. Lumen obviously didn’t have his vision working for him, but he could entertain himself with filling in the blanks with hearing and touch.

This receptionist knew him? Lumen took note of that, it could be helpful later.

“Is Nursse Ren here?” Lumen could feel Neem rolling up on the balls of his feet as he spoke.

“She is! Head on in!”

“Thankss!”

The walk from the receptionist’s desk and the nurses office was was a short walk, but he could feel every step Neem took. It would’ve put him to sleep if it weren't for the drumming pain in his brand. The scratch didn't feel like much beneath Lumen’s fingertips but the sting of it made him believe it was much more severe. Adrenaline was starting to wear off, but keeping his hands on his brand while Neem carried him to the nurses office helped a lot.

The duo made it to the nurse’s office, but Neem halted when he realized there was another being in here getting bandaged up.

The nurse swiveled around on her mobile stool when she had a spare second of time. “Oh! Hi hun, you two can have a seat, I just need to finish up with this student here.”  
  
“Okay, Thankss mom!” Neem said as he gently set Lumen down on a nearby chair.

Mom? She didn’t seem like Neem’s mom, she spoke perfectly with no extra hisses or stutters in her speech. Maybe all of the florans here were like that. But yet again, Lumen really didn’t know if she was floran at all. He needed to work on not assuming things too soon. Lumen shrugged and let the thought slip from his mind.

He made the mistake of removing his hands from his brand, and it felt like somebody had wedged a screwdriver in between the scratch and hit it with a hammer. He’d have to get used to the feeling if he wanted to get his brand examined though.

Sun filtered through half opened blinds that lit up the organized room that surrounded him. He looked around, viewing a hylotl student in his day uniform getting bandaged by the nurse. He remembered Neem calling her ‘nurse Ren’. Her stature was lanky and slim, but had some muscle and weight to her. Ren’s hair was lengthy and braided nicley, with a lotus flower peeking out of the left side of her scalp. The room was lively and filled with plants. The walls were covered neatly in informative health posters and pieces of art that Lumen assumed students drew for her.

While Lumen was looking around the room, Neem was looking directly at Lumen’s brand. He had a concerned look on his face, which probably meant whatever Aki had done to him wasn’t good. He rubbed his hands over his brand once again and looked back at Neem, who flashed him a quick smile.

“Okay, you’re all patched up, move your arm and make sure the bandage isn’t too tight, tell me if it is! I’ll write you up a note and get your absences excused.” Nurse Ren said as she grabbed a notepad and pen, quickly writing down a letter and scribbled her signature. The hylotl student thanked her and headed out the door.

“Okay, come on over you two. Let’s see what you’ve got going on.”

Lumen stood up and walked over while Neem followed behind.

“Oh goodness, what happened to your brand?” Lumen shrugged.

“He uh, he’s another one of Aki’s victimss.” Neem explained.  
“Let’s get a look at that shall we?” The nurse patted the bed beside her and smiled.

Lumen sat down stiffly, elbows on his knees propping up his upper body. He turned his head to look at the nurse, and she gave him a concerning smile.

“There's definitely a scratch there, it doesn't look that deep but we should mend it just to be safe, or you can wait for it to mend on its own. It might take around two weeks though. What would you prefer?”

“Can we mend it now please?” Lumen asked, hoping she’d have some way to stop this painful twinge.

“Sure thing, hun.”

  
Lumen was able to keep his hands away from his brand after a small strip of a nanowrap bandage was applied. There was something different about these bandages than the regular fabric ones he used at home, he guessed that the latter was for bodily wounds and the nanowraps were for far worse injuries. If this had happened back at his parents, he’d have the option of either getting called a crybaby or toughing it out. He’d never really seen technology like this before. Everything at the protectorate was really advanced, he’d have to get used to it if he was studying to be a pilot.

“Okay, come back and tell me if there’s no improvement in the next hour or so. It should be fixed by then. What’s your name again? I need to write it for the note.” Nurse Ren questioned.

“Lumen” He said, almost whispering. He really didn’t know why he was so uncomfortable right now. Maybe it was the fact that Neem was watching him get fixed up, or perhaps it was that he was in a new area that he didn’t know.

“Oh cool! Can I call you Lulu?” She asked, clapping her hands together perfectly inline with her center. “I guess that’s okay?” Lumen chuckled, a bit confused. Nobodies asked to call him a nickname before. Usually they were something like ‘yellow’ or a comment on his height, or lack thereof.

  
-

By the time Ren had helped Lumen get all patched up, gym was over, and the school day was almost through. Lumen thanked Ren and Neem had taken Lumen back to the locker room to change out of gym clothes and into day uniform.

Neem lazily threw off his shirt and rummaged in his messy locker, searching for the right item of clothing. Lumen quickly changed out of his in the time Neem had found and gotten into his shirt, carefully pulling the collar of the fabric over his flower. “Hey Neem?”

“Yeah?” He responded, turning around to face the golden novakid.

“Thank you.”

And then there was silence for a second over comfortable quiet.

“No problem.” And he knew it was genuine. “You should sit with my friendss and I during lunch tomorrow, we usually hang out by the dorms by the cherry blossom tree.” Neem said excitedly. “Well, if you want to.”

Lumen nodded. “If you’ll have me.”

He felt a breath get caught in his throat. He didn’t know why everyone here was being so nice. He felt like he might cry, but not in the sense that he was sad, somewhat of a new emotion.

  
Maybe this was how it was supposed to be.

  
Maybe things were starting to shift.


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunch time comes around, some people like pasta, and other's don't wash their hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I felt the will to write another chapter, so I rode it out as far as it would take me. Enjoy!

Daybreak came early for Lumen, the sun was awake and so was he. He usually wasn’t one for early mornings, but his sleep couldn’t contain his ridiculous amount of excitement for lunch today. Normally, he’d eat near the library and read up on some of his notes for class alone, he really didn’t have a lot of friends here yet. Only some acquaintances that seemed to be neutral towards him, and he was okay with that. However, it would be nice to make some good ties, he could let himself do that, and Neem seemed like the perfect candidate.

He hopped down from top bunk, making as much noise as possible in the process just to mess with his roommate that he hated so, so much. Chase was his name, and Chase turned in his coveres to face the wall. Lumen chuckled as he reached for his uniform, folded neatly and placed down on top of one of two dressers in the small living quarters, and made his way into the bathroom to get ready.

He changed quickly and exited the restroom, preparing himself for the day by grabbing his backpack and piloting book from the floor by the bunk bed. Lumen felt like he was prepared for everything life could throw at him. With all his schooling items, wallet, keys, and hand me down cowboy boots on him, he left the dorm with a visible smile on his face and a slam to the door.

Lumen pulled out his phone from his right jean pocket and checked the time.

Still too early to show up early to class, Lumen decided.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and began to pace the halls, in search of something to do. Generally he doesn’t have a lot to think about, so his mind usually would go to what he learned in his piloting classes. However, his most recent events with Neem kept coming back around, and circling his mind. He seemed really sweet, and of course he had seen the floran around before, but he never thought to say hello before now. Maybe it was something that was supposed to happen.

Lumen felt his body glow a bit brighter than usual, and he let it happen.

By the time his first class was even remotely close to beginning, he found himself wandering inside the eating quarters, and remembered that he really hadn’t grabbed anything to eat yet. Lumen walked over to the counter and grabbed a few small things to tide him over until lunch, and made his way over to the library, his usual spot, to go look over some of his notes.

-

Morning passed quickly for him with the help of his more difficult classes, and lunch came sooner than he was expecting. Lumen quickly grabbed a few things for his meal, and began to make his way towards the cherry blossom tree Neem had specified that he and his friends were eating at. Neem spotted Lumen before he did, and shouted his name with a hand cupped to his mouth, in attempt to carry his voice.

Lumen turned around and located Neem, he saw the floran smile and wave, and returned the gesture with a slight rise of the hand. He timidly walked over, lunch held close to his midsection. There seemed to be another floran, their foliage was burgundy and short, with no visible flower. Perhaps they were a type of shrub instead of flora. Sitting beside them on the ground was a glitch with bright blue accents. Their stature was broad in the shoulders but small in the waist.

He made it to the bench, and Neem cleared a spot for him to sit. “Hey man, You can ssit here!” the floran announced, and Lumen obliged. He sat down quietly, and gave his new friend a shy smile.

“Neem, who’s this?” The burgundy floran asked excitedly. “Thiss is Lumen! He’s in my gym class and some of my study periods.” Study periods? Lumen didn’t remember well, anyone in his study period. Maybe that’s because he was always too into his notes to care. “Lumen,” He turned to look at Neem. “This is Reise, they’re studying to be a chemist!” His clawed finger pointed towards the burgundy floran. “And this is Jamie,” Neem’s finger moved to point to the glitch, who gave a small wave. “I mean his real name is Jamess but everyone calls him Jamie, and he’s training to be a ssoldier.” Lumen smiled and gave yet another shy wave. “Hey…”

Before anyone could say another word, a familiar voice rang through the air, coming from the side. “Neem,” She snarled. “Aki.” Neem responded in a tone of voice Lumen hadn’t heard before. It didn’t sound peppy enough to be like the normal Neem.

“Why is, he sitting here?” She said in more of a demand than a question, at least she got the pronouns right.

“I don’t know,” Lumen’s body ran cold. “Why’s the ssky fucking blue?” His body twitched, in attempt to hold in an inappropriate chuckle. “I invited him, because i’m nice.” Aki didn’t respond, only gave Neem a death glare.

From what Lumen could tell, everyone really bent to Aki’s will. She controlled the group, but she didn’t control Neem. Reise was quiet and so was Jamie, but Neem had a determined look to him that gave Lumen a sort of comfort in this time of high anxiety.

“Whatever.”

Only a few more peaceful moments had passed, filled with chatter and jokes from the other four, and a lot of questions about him. He felt the need to keep it vague, nothing about his family or past. He only truly answered questions about his future career and classes he was taking here. Lumen didn’t know why he kept himself closed off, perhaps it was because it felt safer if nobody knew him, or the real him. He would try to stay distant, so that if this whole friend thing didn’t work out, he wouldn’t be that hurt.

After the questions died down and lunch was almost through, a presence Lumen knew all to well was beginning to walk over. Lumen pretended he wasn't looking, which was easy to do with him being a novakid and all. He watched as his roommate and two of his peers walked over, trying too hard to look smooth while doing so.

Chase looked real hard at Lumen, until Lumen decided to pretend he didn’t see him until now. “Oh hey Chase.”

“Lumen.”

There was already too much raw annoyance in the air just from Aki knowing that Neem had invited Lumen to lunch, and this whole thing with his shitty roommate showing up added to Lumen’s already high anxiety. He began to panic on the inside, feeling uncomfortably hotter as time passed and wanted so badly to fidget with the fabric at the bottom of his dress shirt, but decided that it would be fine just pretending like everything was okay and continued to eat his lunch.

Lumen brought his fork filled with cafeteria macaroni and cheese up to his mouth, but before he could take a bite, Chase had smacked it out of his hand and onto the grass below him. Lumen took in an unnecessary deep breath and let it out slowly. Lumen was trying so hard to be calm right now, but his anxiety and anger made it feel like he was going to explode. He tilted his head to the side and looked up at his roommate while turning his lips into a thin line.

“Holy shit, don’t be rude. Pay attention when i’m talking to you.” Chase demanded, and two of his followers high fived in the background.

Lumen’s neck felt hot, he felt completely and thoroughly done with this abuse. He grabbed the rest of his food that was placed on the bench beside him, and got ready to leave. If he was going to be livid, it’s best that he be livid while not around anything flammable. But before he could leave, Neem spoke up, and it made Lumen pause with his hands around his belongings.

“Hey what the fuck?” Neem questioned, a bit angry himself.

“What? He wasn’t paying attention. Somebody needs to teach him his manners, his mom obviously didn’t.” That seemed to hit the nail right on the head, because after that Lumen could feel his chest shake with every heavy breath he took in. Neem sensed it too, and stood up, almost looking ready to punt Chase’s skull into orbit.

“Ah ah ah!” Chase waved his pointer finger back and forth for emotion. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You can get kicked out so fucking quickly, you put a scratch on me and you’re done for. I’ll get you kicked out like that. Get on my level next time.” Neem obviously wasn’t ready for him to say that, although he was correct. The Protectorate usually was good about equality, but some people’s nasty views did slip thought. It’s not like Neem would even plan to hurt somebody. However, he did think about how nice it would feel to give this asshole a shove. Lumen looked up at Neem, as if to ask him if he was okay. Neem didn’t face him back, but did eye in his direction. He decided to step in.

“I really don’t think Neem’s up for scuba diving down in Mariana’s Trench with cinder blocks ducked taped to his feet right now.” Chase looked absolutely thrown back, and Lumen could feel it. He gave Chase one last smile, stood up, and began to leave.

“Hey! Where are you going!” He screeched.

“Getting a new fork,” Lumen stopped in his tracks, but didn’t turn around. “Don’t really feel like eating shit today…” He paused. “I know you you don’t wash your hands after, ya’know.” And with that, Lumen left, visible smirk tugging at his lips. He could hear laughter break from Jamie and Reise, and a disgusted gasp and “Ew!” from Aki.

Once Lumen knew he was out of Chase’s view, he chuckled, letting all his anger out healthily with it. “He’s gonna have my head tonight.” He said to no one, but somebody did respond.

“Wait…” Neem huffed, after speed walking to catch up with Lumen’s short, but fast legs. He pivoted on his boot heel, turning to face Neem front on, who had a hand on the wall to support him while he caught his breath.

Neem handed him his few lunch items, and his tan backpack with not a thing missing. “I had a feeling you weren't gonna come back, sso I brought you your things.”

“Yeah I wasn’t. My plan was to wait until everyone had left and go back to grab everything during a study period.” Lumen waited for Neem to stand up and stretch before continuing. “I owe you like what, two now?”

“Huh? What no, you don’t owe me anything. I’m just being nice.” Neem said with a thumbs up that somehow made Lumen feel slightly uncomfortable. He did owe him something Lumen had forgotten probably. Right? That’s why Neem was being so sweet towards him.

Right?

“Um,” Neem started. “Thanks for ssticking up for me. I- I didn’t really know what to say back there.”

“No. Thank you for everything.” Lumen said with emphasis on the word you. “That means a lot to me, that somebody would just stick up for a stranger like that.”

“A friend.” Neem corrected, and Lumen felt himself smile.

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has no posting schedule, and I don't know when the next chapter will come out. I've already started on the draft for it though!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr at http://zrv.tumblr.com/  
> Follow the askblog for these characters at https://lumenscrew.tumblr.com/
> 
> <3


	3. Study Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A study date turned sour, an empty office, and a very caring mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I edited this at midnight the night before my birthday. Sorry if there is mistakes, let me know and i'll go fix em!

Surprisingly, Neem and Lumen had a lot of classes together. Throughout the week, Neem had seen him in an academic setting every day of the week at least once. One of the days, they both had two classes in a row together, if you’d count a break period as a class. Neem learned that Lumen liked to study, a lot. He realised that Lumen had really liked his piloting class, and that he used to be competing in gymnastics ‘a few years ago’ which probably meant around fifty for him.

Neem also noticed that Lumen also didn’t seem as closed off as before. He didn’t know if it was because of the setting, or the people usually around Neem that made him close up, but he didn’t really care. He liked being around the novakid. The physical aspect of being around a walking sun was always nice for a floran like him, but he realized he just liked having him around in general.

Today was one of the days where they had a break period together, and recently that had become bit of a problem for the library, so the duo moved to Neem’s shared dorm room with Jamie. Neem decided that it was actually time to study instead of showing Lumen pictures on his camera roll of his family, and brought out a notebook with some sketched blueprints of an FTL drive. 

“So you’re an engineer right? Or studying to be one?” Lumen questioned, mouth half full of some off brand cheese crackers he had grabbed beforehand.

“Yeah. Figured out I was really good with understanding this type of stuff.” Neem paused, and snagged a cracker from his friend. “And it’s pretty fun too.”

“Nice… I’ve been here for a bit. Went through the piloting course a bit faster than they’d expected, so I already got my licence for like, smaller ships and junk.”

“You already have your licence for flying? How long have you been here.” 

Lumen looked up from his books, for what seemed like the first time in a while. He spoke with a dead look on his face, somehow squishing his own brand to express more emotion. “Too long.”

Lumen closed his notebook, almost silently, squishes his brand back to it’s original state. He pushed himself up from the ground and sat criss cross on the carpet that decorated Neem’s dorm.

“So,” Lumen began, forming his brand back to it’s original shape after a few seconds of silence.

“The day Aki smacked me in the brand.” Lumen paused, shoving a cheesy snack into his mouth, and biting down with a satisfying crunch. “That nurse you took me to is your mother, right…? She’s nice.”

“In a way I ssuppose. Ren’s really sweet, she’s done a lot for me.” Neem spoke quietly, more than he usually would. He noticed himself, and hoped Lumen wouldn’t.

“Oh?” Neem watched Lumen shove down another cracker. “What do you mean? I mean… if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh no you’re good. My real tribe’s uh, they’re not around anymore… She kinda took me in as one of her own.”

-

Mac ran, quicker than he ever had before on any hunt, to reach a quickly fading greenfinger. Her wound was far too great to heal from, and she knew this. Mac skidded to a stop and almost fell on top of his superior, but managed to kneel just in time, missing a thrown spear while doing so.

“Mac, You’re the only one who hasn’t been hurt.” The greenfinger spoke, reaching up to touch the floran’s face that was wet with tears. “You are stronger than you know. I have to be quick, because I do not know how quickly I will pass.” she said, gesturing to the wound on her midsection. A spear was lodged in between the walls of her stomach, and pitted deep. “Are you ready for your last mission?” The wise floran spoke softly, and smiled when Mac frantically nodded. “Protect what is left of this tribe,” She handed him a spear. Her spear, marked with tallies from the countless numbers of both prey and enemies that have fallen to the instrument. Mac’s chest quivered while his breath began to seem more like hyperventilation than heavy breathing.

“Go.” 

And with that, Greenfinger Neem faded completely. She left with a dead look in her half lidded eyes, and what was left of once bright and gentle smile.

Mac ran, ran to where he knew his brother was hiding, passing mutilated unknown and known floran bodies. He struck the remaining few who somehow stood longer than the rest of the rival tribe. He gave a quick glance over the ones who looked alive, but didn’t succeed in finding any survivors.

The floran made it to the entrance to the underground home he and his twin had lived in since birth, and saw it completely robbed of any valuables. Drawers were opened and cupboards and chests broken into, leaving specks of dust and blood of his kin on and in the containers. Half the room had caved in when the assembly of a rival tribe had stepped over the den, and succeeded in knocking out a few of them. Mac ran over to the unknown florans, making sure they were dead, and if they weren't, they would be by the time Mac was done with them.

Mally squirmed under the support beam that had landed on him, more specifically, on his leg. He cried out in pain, hoping that somebody, anybody would come to help. Agony blinded him, and probably didn’t sense when Mac had slid down the ladder to come to his aid, based on the fact that he was still swatting at Mac’s leg, in an effort to ward off any more intruders. 

“Floran iss here to help. Floran will get you out!” Mac grunted while pulling large stones off of the top of the support beam that Mally was stuck under. He calmed, but still screamed in pain with the feeling of pressure on his ankle and shin slowly becoming less and less crushing, and more and more free. He didn’t dare move his leg until Mac had successfully pulled the log off, and pulled it back like something had burned him. 

“Floran won’t leave you… Never again.” Mac spoke soft, but protectively, tears still streaming down his face as he wrapped his arms around his twin.

-

Lumen looked up from his books to see Neem in tears, having a staring contest with the ground. His breathing seemed normal, and he looked fine except for the fluid coming from his eyes. Lumen still panicked, and assumed he hit a soft spot on accident. “Uh… Neem?” Lumen sat up straight and stiff, staring at his friend with a half open mouth.

Neem didn’t reply, only kept staring at drops of tears beginning to puddle on the floor. Lumen tentatively held his hand over Neem’s knee, and decided on letting his hand lower to let him know he was there. Neem jumped when he made contact, and looked around. Almost as he had forgotten where he was for a minute or two.

Neem wiped his eye with the sleeve of his protectorate golden orange sweatshirt and looked at Lumen. “U-uh…” Neem started, but lumen grabbed his hand when he started to shake. “What do you need right now. I can try my best to supply it.” The novakid spoke softly but steady, in a way that Neem had never really heard before.

“I want my mom.” His voice began to quiver.

“She’s in her office, right? Do you want to go to her right now or get cleaned up a bit?” Lumen questioned.

“I- I don’t know. I don’t know…” Neem began to panic, and Lumen held his hand a bit tighter, interlacing his fingers with the other’s. He knew what this was like. He knew what it was like to panic, and he hated it himself, and he hated to see anyone else in the same state of being. 

“Hey that’s okay to not know… Let’s get those tears wiped up first, then we can walk down there together. Alright?”

“Okay…” Neem sniffled, gripping Lumen’s hand in return.

Lumen pushed himself up off the ground first, with one hand as the other was being held by his anxious friend. He then helped Neem stand by pulling him up, and he didn’t let go after he was off the ground.

The duo made it to the bathroom where Lumen grabbed a few tissues, and handed them to Neem, who wiped his tears that were flowing like a broken dam. Eventually, he got himself under control, but was still a bit out of it. Lumen could tell that he didn’t seem like himself. His neutral smile was replaced with an agape frown, and his once bright eyes that glimmered in the sunlight seemed dull and… sad.

The two walked out of Neem’s dorm and past the cherry blossom tree where they had eaten lunch at just a few days prior, but headed in the direction of the staff office. Lumen pushed open the door to the receptionist's room and explained the situation vaguely, then proceeded to ask if Nurse Ren was in. To their luck, she was.

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Lumen asked, hoping that Neem would be okay enough to answer. He nodded his head up and down timidly, signing a yes in Lumen’s direction. “Okay I’ll stay.” Lumen responded, rubbing over the surface of Neem’s hand with his own thumb. He hadn’t really let go since Lumen reached for it the first time, and usually he wasn’t comfortable with prolonged contact, but Neem seemed like he needed it, and he seemed safe enough to let his high walls down a little around.

The two approached Nurse Ren’s office door and Lumen gave it a light knock. The sound of a cabinet being closed and a squeaky chair being relieved of tension sounded. The door opened to reveal a tidy office space, filled with empty walls much different than that of the infirmary, covered in informative posters.

Ren tilted her head and frowned at Neem, then proceeded to lift and open her arms, almost asking for a hug. Neem let go of Lumen’s hand and just about crashed into the nurse with an embrace. Lumen watched the two hug for a bit, and began to wish he had that connection with his mother. After a few long moments filled with Neem’s sniffles, Lumen awkwardly lifted his arm and scratched the back of his neck and turned to leave. Ren sensed whispered a small ‘thank you’ to the novakid as he left. Lumen responded with a thumbs up, and turned completely around to head back to his dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY IF THE FLASHBACK DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. Here's some context: Neem took on Greenfinger Neem's title after her death, and left his old name, Mac, behind with the death of his tribe.
> 
> Oh! Also I remade my tumblr, im now @divinedate o3o. Go follow me there!


	4. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New nicknames, a cheesy gift, and a heartfelt apology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I'm super sorry about promoting my commissions right here but I've ran out of food stamps until next month and I need to buy some other things like clothes and boots for winter since we get around three feet of snow each year ; v ;. I will draw your characters for you! Starbound art is 25% off! Here's a link to the sheet: https://9oy.tumblr.com/post/178985302464/

Lumen stared at the drawing thumbtacked to the ceiling above his top bunk blankly and rested his hands behind his head. He thought about yesterday and ran through the series of events that had gone down over and over again while looking at the curved lines of the piece. He thought about Neem a lot, and nothing could really stop him from doing that, but there was a lot of hesitance coming from his own head. It felt… uncomfortable. It was making the sunkissed novakid uneasy about this whole thing. Weren't people supposed to seem like, odd when you first get their impression? And was this really at the ‘first impressions’ stage anymore? Lumen thought not, and it frightened him.

Neem had become his friend quicker than he’d ever let himself befriend others. He had gotten past those walls he kept so, so high up, and it was scary. It was scary having somebody grow so close to him and him being okay with it. Lumen didn’t know if it was Neem making him feel off or if it was the fact that Neem seemed safe to let open up around.

Maybe this wasn’t a bad thing though. Making friends and connections wasn’t horrible. Being okay with somebody and feeling secure in somebody else wasn’t a bad thing either. It only gets dangerous when the other person is untrustworthy, but the floran seemed reliable.

He did feel horrible about triggering an episode for Neem though and felt even worse when he realized he forgot to apologize. There were some things people can talk about with Neem, apparently past family or relatives is not one of them. Lumen made a mental note to never bring it up again.

Lumen jumped down from the top bunk with a huff and hit the ground with a thud. A thud that potentially woke up his asshole roommate, but he didn’t stick around to check. He groggily dragged himself into the bathroom after gathering a pair of clothes to change into. Before he could even get his hands around the hem of his tank to pull it off, a loud blow shook the previously closed door, open to reveal a pretty livid Chase.

“God damn stop leaping off your top bunk at oh-” Chase pulled his phone and switched on the lock screen, showing a clock. It was 6:13 AM. “You know, too fucking early in the morning!” he huffed angrily “I don’t have classes until noon.”

“Sucks!” Lumen replied, obviously uninterested in Chase’s sleeping schedule. What Lumen was more interested in is the fact that he had woken up this early. It seemed like mid-morning by how the sun peeked through the gaps in the blinds. He shrugged at the thought. “Can you close the door so I can change.” He added on with a deadpan tone and expression.

Chase exhaled through his nose violently and slammed the door shut a few seconds after. Lumen made sure to lock it after some time had passed.

Classes were boring today, or they seemed boring until he realized he had a shared break period with Neem after his lunch. Lumen didn’t know why he was so excited to see the floran again. Perhaps it was his welcoming aura or the fact that he was the only one to check up on him when they originally first met. Lumen decided to put the excitement on the fact that it was to check up on him. That was all he needed to interact with him anyway. Maybe they could talk for a bit after, he felt bad for sending Neem into a state of panic, maybe he could share about his own family, tell Neem about his father or siblings. That seemed like a fair trade.

Lumen could feel himself smile when Neem finally arrived at their designated study table in one of the plazas. Neem returned his grin with one of his own, showing his fangs and scrunching up the space between his plum accented eyes. He slid his bag off of his shoulder and dropped it to the floor by his feet.

“Hi, Lu!” Neem’s voice echoed quietly throughout the empty common, and Lumen brightened at the nickname, although a little embarrassed. “I didn’t know if you ate or not since you weren't with us at lunch… but I brought you a ssnack since I knew we were gonna hang out here jusst in case.” Neem crouched down and shuffled around in his backpack for a few seconds, then pulled out a plastic container, the same ones he’d get his cafeteria food in.

“I saw you eating this last time you ate lunch with us, and I felt bad ssince that whole thing with your roommate went down so…” Neem sheepishly presented the container of Lumen’s favorite kind of cheesy pasta, and Lumen froze.

Nobody had recently gotten him anything. Nobody had gotten him anything with thought behind the gift since the last family holiday, and that still didn’t have as much effort and time put into it like this. Lumen didn’t know what to do, he felt warm and something in his brand twitched that made him feel like he was floating.

He shook out of whatever he just felt when Neem’s smile faded and outstretched arms began to draw back. Quickly, Lumen pressed his hands onto the ones that were currently holding the item ever so delicately. They delayed like that for a few moments before Lumen felt like he could speak.

“You didn’t have to get me anything…” The to be pilot left his mouth agape, in some sort of awe of Neem’s kindness.

“D-do you not want it? I didn’t know if you liked it or if it was the only thing at the cafeteria that day. So I jusst figured-” Lumen put a hand above and below the bowl and gave a gentle tug. Neem released the dish as the novakid looked down at it.

“I want it. I swear I want it I just- i’m not used to people gettin’ me stuff. I’m sorta’ bad at receiving gifts.” He looked back up at the floran and beamed, letting his mouth take form, showing his overbite and buck teeth. “Thank you…” And Lumen meant it.

One thing he noticed immediately, was a hue of green, a few shades deeper than Neem’s original skin tone, that spread across the floran’s cheeks. It quickly faded as Neem brought a lanky arm back to mess with his foliage. “No problem! Ssorry if I made you uncomfortable…”

 

“No! N-no no. You’re alright.” Lumen said as a popped off the lid with a click. “Uh,” he paused. Now realizing he had the lack of a utensil. “Did ya' get a fork…?”

“O! Here.” Neem pulled a wrapped plastic spork out of his left pocket. “They’re out of forkss, but this is the next best thing.” He said with a chuckle.

The floran pulled a chair out from its place under the table and took a seat. He propped his head up with the palms of his scale coated hands and stared off into the distance. Lumen tilted his head in concern and remembered yesterday's events.

“Oh I uh,-” Lumen started.

“I’m ssorry about yesterday…” Neem stared into the table.

“You’re sorry? I’m sorry… I was the one who brought it up. I uh- I feel real bad about that.” Lumen could see Neem shift, but not a lot. “If I ever bring up something you don’t want to talk about again just- just let me know… Yeah?”

Neem tilted his head to face the novakid and gave a gentle but somewhat shy smile. “Thank you.” And there was something soft, warm, and vulnerable about the way he spoke. It made Lumen’s chest ache in a way he couldn’t begin to describe. He wished he could let himself be open, but getting close was horrifying and losing that connection was even worse. It was better to stay safe than be happy in his mind.

“Not a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others, and double sorry that nothing eventful really happened. Next chapter will be more exciting!
> 
> Reminder that this story has no posting schedule, and I don't know when the next chapter will come out. It all depends on my overall wellbeing and will to write, and both have been pretty low recently.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr at http://9oy.tumblr.com/  
> Follow the askblog for these characters at https://lumenscrew.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr dot hell has been remade and is now @divinedate


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